


the secrets your secrets haven't found

by sugarquillstory



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Childhood Friends, F/M, M/M, Multi, Neighbors, Sibling Bonding, but here i am writing this instead, i know nothing about the uk foster system, i really should focus on school, i've never actually written reylo before so hang in there with me, this is going to be messy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23238517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarquillstory/pseuds/sugarquillstory
Summary: In which Rey, adopted into the Dameron family, spends her years at Hogwarts getting into trouble much too often all thanks to her neighbor-slash-brother's best friend, Ben Solo.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey & Rose Tico, Poe Dameron & Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron & Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	the secrets your secrets haven't found

Rey supposed that, if she had to pick her lifelong career right at that very point in her life, she’d like to be a pilot. Or maybe even an astronaut. It was something exciting, something she already knew she’d have to train for; she’d read about both of the jobs at school, having pulled books from the library shelves, unable to decide between the two for so long that the librarian gave her a gentle smile and allowed her to take both of them for the week. So she’d sat at her desk in the back of the classroom, not paying any particular attention to the English lesson the teacher was giving and instead reading what she could before the bell rang for the end of the school day. While the other students learned about adjectives, she was busy daydreaming about flying high up in the air, even out in space, seeing the whole world in one sweep.

It was much better than being stuck here, at least. Once she was eighteen she was free (for the most part, at least - Maz would still be checking in on her until she was 21, 25 if she decided to go to college, but knowing the old woman the two would remain in constant contact forever) and that alone was enough to keep her in check. The cleaner her record, the better her chances were on the other side. That’s the way she looked at it anyways.

Rey spared another glance at the old analog clock that hung above the door. The day was almost at an end, and she’d get to walk back to her foster home. Maybe she’d stop in the corner store and buy a bag of candy to hide in her backpack just in case Plutt didn’t feel like cooking that night... or even shopping for groceries in the first place. She’d scarfed down her lunch already, meaning there was nothing left for her to smuggle back with her to last over the weekend. Maybe she’d be able to sneak back in the cafeteria on her way out the doors and be able to scavenge something to last her over the weekend.

The overhead speaker crackled to life above her, interrupting her thoughts. Some of the other students clamped the hands over their ears at the sound, and even the teacher jumped a little. An announcement this late in the day was certainly unexpected.

“Miss Sloane?” the voice creaked, and Rey recognized the voice as Mrs. Maillet, the secretary that had been at this school for so long that she was certain she was born here. She saw her teacher’s pretty face twist up in confusion only briefly before seeming to realise she had to answer.

“Yes?”

“This is just to let you know that Rey will be getting picked up by a special guest here in the office once the day ends.”

She hardly realized that her teacher said a quick thank you and that the speaker had gone dead. Who could be picking her up? Surely not Platt; he’d never leave the house except for work, and even that seemed like a rare occurrence. It wasn’t as if she had any other family to come see her. That only left...

Rey grinned to herself at the thought. Maz. The rest of the day couldn’t pass by fast enough at this rate. Miss Sloane continued on and on about whatever subject they were on - fractions, maybe - but she couldn’t care less. If Maz was picking her up, surely this was going to be a good weekend after all. When she dropped in to visit, Plutt was a decent person for a change. It had been the closest she’d ever had to having a father. She knew the thought should make her sad, but whenever it happened, Rey was nothing but grateful for the peace she experienced until her social worker left and he went back to pretending she didn’t exist. And if Maz was picking her up from school, then surely there was something big planned for her.

It felt like hours when the last bell finally rang overhead, and she was sure to grab her library books and carefully tuck them into her backpack along with her homework. The little brunette pulled on her jacket and gave her teacher a quick goodbye before she ran out the door, heading straight for the front office. Her old, worn-out tennis shoes squeaked against the polished wood as she hurried, ignoring how the bottom of her book bag thumped against her back. Most of the students had already gone out to catch their bus, or were waiting in the car line for their parents to pick them up. A few older students still hung by their lockers, talking with their friends. She rounded the corner past the gym where a few students slipped inside for basketball practice. She hurried past the teachers’ lounge, slowing briefly to catch the sweet scent of fresh coffee, before hurrying back down the hallway.

She reached the office, turning the knob and forcing the door open so roughly it nearly bounced off of the brick wall it sat up against. The glass rattled, but for once Rey wasn’t stopping to wince for a punishment. Her brown eyes quickly scanned around before landing on her.

Maz Kanata had to be oldest person alive, Rey was sure of it. Her dark skin, almost an odd hue of brownish orange after a lifetime of tanning and bronzer, was wrinkled beyond belief, but as she smiled at Rey from across the room it was hard to miss the way it crinkled the corners of her small whiskey-colored eyes. She was short, about the same height as Rey was at a whopping nine years old, but she was Rey’s most favourite person in the entire world. She broke out into a grin and rushed over to her social worker, already bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

“I didn’t know you were coming! I thought your next visit wasn’t until next month, I would-“ Maz raised a hand to silence her before moving to gently rub her on the cheek.

“You’ve always been an excitable one, Rey,” she chuckled, her voice comforting her as if she were holding a security blanket. As Maz rose from the old maroon chair, Rey offered her an arm for balance out of habit. Not that she would need it; Maz Kanata was many things, including old, but helpless wasn’t one of them. “Now, I’ve got a surprise for you. Are you hungry?”

Before she could come up with a lie, the girl’s stomach erupted into a chorus of growls, making the old woman look at her curiously and let out a little exhale through her nose. At least Plutt had given her something to eat last night or this would have been a lot worse. Instead, she just nodded sheepishly, and Maz’s familiar smile returned.

“Well come on then. Let’s go! We don’t have all day, you know.” The short woman headed towards the door, allowing Rey to follow after her, the two of them moving in comfortable silence out of the office. They gave a quick wave goodbye to Mrs. Maillet, Rey holding open the doors as they walked out to the parking lot. The pair headed out towards Maz’s old silver car, every inch but the windows covered in years’ worth of dust and mud. In fact, Rey wasn’t even sure that the car really was silver, and thought that maybe her social worker was making it all up. She stood by the back door, waiting for it to manually be unlocked.

“No need to have a machine to do something I’m perfectly capable of doing, child,” Maz had said time and time again. It was just something that Rey had come to expect. The old woman unlocked her own door before practically crawling in the back seat to unlock the door for her. Rey appreciatively crawled in, tossing her backpack in next to her and buckling herself up. Maz was adjusting herself in her seat, With the amount of pillows that she had piled up in the drivers seat to sit on, Rey thought (not for the first time) that she ought to just suck up her pride and get a booster seat.

As Maz put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, Rey stared out the window, watching the landscape pass by. And by landscape she meant the desolate backdrop of suburbia that was sorely lacking in any sort of nature. Even the grass that was supposed to be picturesque only came in various shades of brown, occasionally even being nonexistent. At least the sky was a clear shade of blue today, contrasting greatly as the hints of early evening began bleeding onto the edges of the horizon the further they drove.

It took Rey longer than she would like to admit to notice that they weren’t headed in the direction of Plutt’s house. She frowned, sitting up straighter, looking around suddenly.

“Uh... Maz?” she began to question, but the old lady didn’t seem to hear her. Instead she pulled into the turn lane and took a right, quietly humming along to the music that was playing on the radio. It was a song Rey didn’t know, but apparently Maz was very familiar with it.

How mysterious, she thought. It wasn’t as if Maz was going to hurt her or anything. The old woman was one of the few people that she trusted in the world, if not the only one. Even still she had to admit that she was being quiet and almost suspicious. She was so lost in thought that she barely registered the fact that the car had suddenly been parked and shut off.

“Alright, get out child,” she heard Maz say as the woman opened her own door, locking it behind her. Rey scrambled to unbuckle herself and get out of the car, following after her social worker into the building. She stopped short once she caught sight of the interior. Spinning around to face the old woman, the brunette felt her face scrunch up in confusion.

“Okay, what’s the deal? You only take me out for ice cream when you’ve got really big news for me.”

But Maz only smiled and gently patted the girl on the shoulder, heading towards the front counter without looking back.

“Go ahead and order, then we’ll talk.”

Realizing that she wouldn’t get any answers out of her unless she did what she was told, she sighed and followed after her, standing at the counter and looking at the overwhelming selection of flavours that the shop had. After an embarrassing amount of minutes that kept the college boy patiently waiting at the counter - somehow smiling the whole time - she settled on just a scoop of vanilla bean on a waffle cone. She couldn’t afford to get too fancy with the flavours, wanting to savor it and not eat it too fast.

Maz carried her cup of butter pecan away to a table in the far corner. Rey followed after her once again, quiet for once as she took a seat in the cracked yellow vinyl booth, across from the old social worker. Maz smiled softly as she began taking a few bites of her ice cream, watching Rey began to lick at the sweet dessert to keep the sticky droplets from running onto her hands.

“You should have gotten a cup instead,” Maz finally spoke up, and Rey resisted the urge to huff. She couldn’t have told her what they were doing here? Instead, she said nothing, tempted to just take a bite out of the scoop and suffer through the pain. As if Maz realised she wasn’t going to say anything in response, she thoughtfully took another bite before setting her dish and spoon down on the table. “So... as you have guessed, I do have some news for you.”

That certainly caught her attention. Rey perked up and turned her gaze towards the old woman, altogether forgetting about the existence of her ice cream for just a moment. She was quiet as she waited for her to continue. Man looked around the mostly empty ice cream parlor, warily eyeing the few other patrons. Rey followed her gaze and frowned; no one really seemed all that suspicious. There was a middle-aged man in an old t-shirt and grass-stained jeans, eating ice cream with his two young children. A small group of people dressed in business attire laughed together in the booth at the other end of the store as they licked at their cones. What was going on? She turned back to Man expectantly, licking at her melting ice cream without breaking eye contact.

“You’re being moved to a new home,” the old woman told her after too many moments of silence. Rey hesitated. Another home? Of course, getting away from Plutt would be nice, but moving around so much would make it that much harder to be found. Maz knew this; it was hard to find anything from her. She’d seen it all at this point, recognizing the same type of people just by looking in their eyes. It was something only someone who had experienced a certain amount in life would be able to pull off. Still, Rey didn’t say anything, the wheels in her head still turning.

“They want to adopt you. You’re a… special case. Circumstances have come up and-“

“What circumstances?” Rey asked quickly, suddenly feeling uneasy. This wasn’t how this discussion usually went. She’d been placed with families that were interested in adopting her before, but those never lasted very long. Why would this one be any different? “Where do they live? What’s their name?” Her social worker just sighed quietly and glanced around again uneasily, settling her steely gaze back on the girl.

“Just finish your ice cream. I’ll explain it all to you later.”

"Just tell me!" Her hands slammed flat onto the table, Maz's spoon suddenly flying off across the restaurant. Rey blinked in surprise after it; she didn't think her hands had been that close to the spoon, let alone hit it hard enough to send it flying. Maz just blinked at her and pointed at her ice cream cone, wordlessly telling her to finish eating. She wasn’t giving her any details. This all felt wrong. But she did as she was told, the dessert landing like rocks in her stomach. When they were finished, the short woman collected their trash and tossed them into the bin, ushering Rey back out the door and herding her into the car once again.

“We’re going to go to Plutt’s and get your things,” Maz said once they were both settled back in the car and pulling out of the parking lot. The woman spared a glance in the rear view mirror, but Rey wasn’t looking at her. Her attention was drawn outside the window, watching everything pass by her nervously. As they drove with just the radio playing softly for noise (it was some pop station, bouncing wildly between slow ballads and fast tempo dance numbers, but Rey couldn’t pick out the lyrics while thinking so she couldn’t truly tell whether any of it was worth listening to or not), she looked out the window, watching the sky turn different colours and the houses grow smaller.

The car pulled up to a stop at the curb, and she grimaced a little at the sight. Plutt’s house was a thin two-story house, with just one window upstairs facing the street. There was a small concrete porch with a splintery wooden bench pushed up against the dirty yellow panelling, even though the years of dirt and mud and dust and storms had turned what would be a nice inviting colour into something truly ugly. Rey only knew because Plutt had sent her outside with a rag and a bucket of water to clean what she could to get her out of his hair one summer day - not that he actually had any hair to begin with. Rey swallowed and grabbed her backpack, but somehow Maz had managed to get out of the car and come around to the other side to open her door for her before she had even had the chance to unbuckle.

“You can leave that in here,” she told her gently. “We’re just getting your things and then we’ll be leaving.” Rey nodded and set her backpack down onto the floor behind the driver’s seat, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out of the car. She stood there for a moment, looking at all the old junk scattered across the front yard (or lack thereof) inside the rusty chain link fence. Tires, rusted iron pieces, old motors, you name it. It was practically a junkyard. Maz led the way confidentially, marching on through the gate, and Rey had no choice but to follow. The brunette stuffed her hands in her pockets as the old woman pushed the front door open - left unlocked, no surprise - and walked inside.

“You’re late,” a voice, almost a cough, called from somewhere deep within the house, and the girl froze. Wasn’t he supposed to be at work still? Maz laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile.

“It’s Maz Kanata,” she called out, seemingly to draw Plutt out of wherever he was hiding. “Rey’s social worker.” She was met with silence, and shrugging, Maz motioned for Rey to go upstairs. “Go pack your things, you still have that bag from last time don’t you?” Rey nodded, but hesitated with following her directions. Plutt was not a small man by any means, and she was scared about what could happen to Maz if he ended up getting angry with her. Her mind was moving a mile a minute, coming up with all kinds of terrible scenarios that would end with the police showing up and her fate being left up in the air.

But Maz was insistent, motioning for her to go on up. She made a shooing motion with her hands until Rey gave up and trekked up the stairs. They creaked underneath her feet, her shoes making soft little thuds against the worn wood, and she pushed open her bedroom door with a frown.

Rey wasn’t the only kid at Plutt’s. He tended to keep a handful of them around at any time - the more kids, the more money he got from the government. But he wasn’t going to take in more than he could handle; she personally thought he was the stupidest man alive, but even she had to admit, he thought things through when it came to his income. His house was small, though; his bedroom was downstairs, along with his own bathroom and the kitchen and the living room.

Upstairs there were two smaller bedrooms and one bathroom to share between the kids. Currently there were five of them in the house. Her two roommates were inside of the room, quiet as could be. One of the girls was asleep on her bed while the other was sitting on the floor by the window, scribbling down something in her notebook.

She entered without a word, digging her bag out from underneath her designated bed and dropping it. It wasn’t much, just an old gray duffel bag with faded blue stitching. Maz had given it to her a few homes ago when she had cried about being teased by the kids at school for collecting her stuff with a trash bag. And now, apparently, it was supposed to be used to take everything she owned with her to meet her new family… and this new one was apparently supposed to be permanent. She still didn’t know what to make of it all.

“Where are you going?” Rey stopped, one of her wadded up tee shirts halfway into the bag, looking up. The girl sitting at the window glanced up for just a moment before turning back to her work.

“Uhm… I’m leaving. My social worker-“

“Oh, okay.” She didn’t say anything else. Rey frowned, wondering if she should continue the conversation, but after a moment she exhaled quietly and just went back to stuffing her things in her bag. The only sounds in the room was the rustling of the fabrics and the pencil moving against the paper. If she concentrated, she could make out the voices of Plutt and Maz arguing downstairs, but she couldn’t tell what they were saying. It didn’t take her long to pack her bag; she didn’t have all that much. About a week’s worth of clothes, an old knitted doll she’d had since before she could remember, her stuff from the bathroom, and the boots she kept in the closet for snowy days. She had it all packed tightly and secure and there was still room for more things. Part of her debated on whether or not she should grab the pillow and take it with her - Maz hadn’t said how long they’d be driving, and she didn’t want to be uncomfortable in the car. Then again… it had been here since before her. Her nose wrinkled at the thought and she quickly decided against it.

Taking one last look around the room, Rey frowned. She'd expected to spend a lot longer at this place than just a few years. That wasn't to say she wasn't grateful to be leaving - God, no, she couldn't wait to leave this house for good. Still, there was something about even the idea of leaving that made her turn away from the other girls and head out the doorway, trotting down the steps. Plutt's voice caught her attention, making her stop about halfway down the staircase, frowning to herself.

"You can't just take her-"

"Well, actually, I can," Maz retorted. Rey continued down the stairs - slower this time - and she watched the two adults argue about her. "You'll receive your last check in the mail for taking care of Rey within the next few weeks." Before he's able to say anything else, Maz turned to her and held out her hand. "Come on. We have a lot of driving to do and not enough daylight to do it."

Plutt stared at her, the anger burning in his eyes undeniable, but Rey didn't shrink down from it; he can't do anything to her. Maz was here and she was leaving with her. She didn’t say anything though, instead looking between the two adults uncertainly. Maz waved her hand, motioning for Rey to follow her, and smiled - though she could tell she was starting to get impatient being stuck in this house. So she hopped down the last few steps and moved quickly past Plutt, leading her social worker out the front door and relishing in the fresh air as the sound of the front door being pulled shut came from behind her. She took a moment to stand there, dragging the toe of her ratty old Converse across the floor of the porch, as Maz moved around her.

“Come on, Rey!” she hollered over her shoulder, heading across the junk-filled front lawn and to the car. “We don’t have all day to get you to your new family!”

That perked Rey right up. She gripped the strap of her duffel bag as she adjusted it on her shoulder, trotting after her obediently and leaving the front gate open as she crossed the property line. Who cared; she wasn’t about to come back anytime soon. The little brunette opened the back door and tossed her bag across the seats, plopping herself down next to it and buckling up as Maz settled herself into a seat.

“So… your new family is a bit of a ways away,” she stated once the car had been started up again, pulling away from the curb. Rey almost missed her words, too busy watching Plutt’s house disappear away from her for the final time. “We’re going to have to stay in a motel for the night.” The girl perked up, looking at the old woman in shock. She had never stayed in a motel before.

“Do I get my own room?” That made Maz laugh out loud.

“Oh, you dreamer child,” she chuckled. “I don’t make that kind of money. You’ll get your own bed though. And it’s jus for one night.” That was enough for Rey to be satisfied for now, so she tucked her legs up and sank into the seat, letting her mind wander as she watched the scenery pass by out the window. They continued driving as the sun sank below the horizon and the stars came out, and Rey slowly drifted off, consumed with thoughts about what was waiting for her tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you're enjoying this story! You can catch up with me on my social media ([twitter](https://twitter.com/sugarquillstory), [tumblr](https://sugarquillstory.tumblr.com/), and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/sugarquillstory/)), feel free to follow and yell at me about your ships and what you're enjoying in my story so far. See you all in the next chapter!


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